


Just For A Little While

by Cartecka



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-09-24 18:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9778154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cartecka/pseuds/Cartecka
Summary: Boarding School AU. Fake Dating AU. Need I say more?





	1. Chapter 1

Mike is driving Kara crazy. Like up-the-wall insane. She’d liked him at first, as a friend, because he was funny and goofy and nice enough. He never seemed to take anything seriously and with Alex and James around always making sure she stayed on track, it had been a nice change.  

But then he’d decided that he wanted to date her and now she can’t get rid of him. He’d asked her out for the first time a week ago and she’d turned him down stating that she wasn’t really looking to date anyone and she liked him better as a friend. She’d hoped that he’d take it well, like Winn had, and just forget about it and move on.  

He had not. 

Instead, he’d decided that if she didn’t like him, he’d just have to change her mind. He had picked flowers for her. He’d written her a (bad, very bad) song after hastily learning to play the guitar. He’d carried her bag for her between classes and he brought her snacks when she was studying. (That last bit she didn’t mind that much except she felt guilty accepting it.)

 After he asks her out for the fifth time in four days, she snaps.

 “Mike, I don’t want to date you,” she growls at him through clenched teeth. 

 “Why not?” he asks. 

“Because I don’t like you like that!!”

“But why not? I mean I’ve been really nice to you and we get along really well. And I know I’m good-looking,” he says as if that should be enough. “I mean, the only reason you wouldn’t like me would be if there was someone else.”

“There is!!” Kara blurts out in desperation because she just wants him to leave her alone. 

“Really? Who? I’d know if you were dating someone…”

“We thought Alex wouldn’t approve so we’ve kept it a secret.”

Kara has never been a good liar. Alex teases her about it all the time. But she’s proud of how quickly she comes up with that.

Mike frowns. 

“What?”

“I thought Alex wouldn’t… I mean, Alex has always been protective and we thought it would be better if we kept it a secret for a bit.”

Mike scoffs.

“Fine, whatever. I can tell you’re lying. If you didn’t want to date me, you could have just said so.”

He stalks off down the hall and Kara groans in frustration. At least he won’t bother her again, though she is a little sad that she’s lost a friend.

* * *

 Everyone is acting strange around Kara. She can’t quite place why she feels weird until lunch time where she realizes that it’s because people are whispering about her. She can see them leaning toward each other when they catch sight of her and while all of them are staring at her, none of them will quite meet her eye. She’s never really been the subject of gossip before. She never did anything scandalous and she was good enough friends with most of the school that if something was up they’d just talk to her. She’s very sure that she doesn’t like it at all. 

She gets her food, keeping her head down and sits next to James whose expression changes instantly when he sees it’s her. 

“What?” she asks.

“I’m a little offended, you know,” he says. “I mean, you told Mike you were dating someone, but not me? I thought we were friends.”

Kara groans and drops her forehead down onto the table. 

“Is that what everyone is talking about?”

“Uh, yeah,” James says and Kara looks up at him. “Kara Danvers, probably the most-liked person in the school, has a secret boyfriend and no one knew about it? I mean, guys have been tripping over themselves to date you since freshman year. Everyone wants to know who it is. Who is it?”

Kara shakes her head. 

“No one. I just said that to get Mike off my back. I can’t believe he told everyone. Oh my god, Alex is going to kill me,” Kara groans. 

James whoops in amusement. 

“Oh yeah, you are so dead. Could you really not think of a better lie to get him off your back? One that wouldn’t make you the center of gossip?”

“I panicked, okay? He was being irritating and I just wanted to get rid of him. I never thought he’d tell anyone.”

“Well, now the whole school thinks you’re dating someone and they are adamant about figuring out who it is. I mean, I’ve had ten people come up to me today and ask. I told them I didn’t know either.”

They both fall silent for a second. James seems to be waiting for some sort of reaction from Kara, but Kara doesn’t know what to say. 

“You know that you can’t take it back now right?” James says cautiously. “If you try denying it people will just want to know more. They’ll assume that you’re hiding it for some reason and their theories are going to get more and more ridiculous as to why.”

“Ugh. I know, but gossip never lasts long. It’ll blow over,” Kara says. 

James does not look convinced. 

* * *

It doesn’t blow over. It actually gets worse because people stop whispering behind her back and start asking her to her face.  

“So, uh, I heard you’re dating someone. Who is it?” 

“Is he cute? The guy you’re dating, I mean.”

She knows that various groups have running bets on who it is, when she’ll finally announce it, and why she’s hiding it. After three weeks, they show no sign of losing interest and Kara is going crazy. 

She decides, on a whim, to not eat lunch in the dining hall. She hasn’t been able to eat a meal once this week without someone coming up to her and she’s tired of it. Instead, she goes to the library. There’s a vending machine in the basement and she has enough dollar bills that she can make a decent meal out of it, she hopes. 

The library is usually pretty empty during lunch hours and she’s able to sneak down to the basement without anyone noticing. The basement itself is always empty except during finals week when students get desperate. There are no windows and it always seems cold and damp and musty even in the middle of summer. The only reason students ever go there is the vending machine. 

Kara buys her snacks and lays them out across on of the work tables there. She slips her headphones into her ears, puts on her favorite music, and starts to eat. She has five bags of chips, two granola bars, and a bag of m&ms in front of her. She can’t live off of it, but it should do to tie her over until dinner. 

She’s well into her third bag of chips when she hears a voice behind her. It’s just a vague murmur in the background of her music and she scrambles with her phone to turn off the music. She turns in her seat and has to stop herself from gaping. Standing in front of her, holding a tupperware with food in it, is Lena Luthor. 

“I’m sorry,” Kara says. “What?”

“I said, what are you doing down here?”

Kara flinches a little. Everyone knows Lena Luthor. Or rather, everyone knows who her brother is. Lex Luthor had been the star quarterback and a shoe-in for valedictorian his senior year before he’d been caught selling experimental drugs, that he made himself, to freshmen. Four of them ended up in the hospital. One died. 

He was sent to jail, hopefully for life, though the Luthor lawyers are reportedly doing everything they can to get him out. 

No one knows much about Lena actually, except that she keeps to herself. Kara had noticed her on the first day their freshman year. She’d been sitting alone at the lunch tables and Kara had been about to join her when James warned her off. 

“No way, Kara. That’s Lena _Luthor._ Her brother is the guy that Clark caught essentially poisoning freshmen. Stay away from her.”

Kara hadn’t really taken his words to heart but it hadn’t mattered. Lena kept to herself and didn’t talk to anyone. Except, here she is. Staring at Kara with a strange expression. Kara realizes that she hasn’t responded. 

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you if you were planning on doing homework. I can go,” Kara says quickly, already starting to gather up her chips. 

“No, no, sorry. I wasn’t…,” Lena says, waving her free hand in front of her. “I just… sorry, I phrased that badly. I just meant, I’ve never seen you down here before. Shouldn’t you be eating lunch with your friends?”

Kara laughs awkwardly. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m kind of… hiding right now,” she says. 

“You?” Lena asks, surprised. 

“I… um, yeah. Me. Why?”

“Well, it’s just, you’re Kara Danvers. I mean, who could you be hiding from? Everyone loves you.”

Kara blushes hard. 

“I’m not…I mean, I don’t… not _everyone_.”

“Just about,” Lena says, walking around the table so she can sit across from Kara. 

She places her tupperware on the table in front of her and opens it. It’s pesto pasta with a piece of garlic bread and Kara’s mouth waters. 

“Um, why are you eating down here?” Kara asks.

Lena looks at her strangely. 

“No one really wants to eat with a _Luthor_.”

That shuts Kara up pretty well. There’s nothing she can say to contradict her after all. She’s heard enough rancor from James and Alex to know how most people feel about her. 

“Anyway,” Lena says, brushing it off with a wave of her fork. “You never answered my question. Why are _you_ eating down here?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” Kara says with a sigh. 

Lena smirks. 

“I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

So Kara tells her, trying to keep it as simple as she can even though it’s really not. Because she liked Mike and she really wants to be mad at him but she’s mostly sad that they aren’t friends anymore. Alex had been pissed when she’d found out and was irritated that people kept asking _her_ who Kara was dating. Winn doesn’t seem quite sure what to believe and swings wildly between believing that Kara is single and doing his best to try and find to who she’s dating. And so many other students who she’d gotten along fine with, now are getting frustrated that she’s hiding this and Kara is just _tired_. 

“Anyway, they won’t leave me alone, so I ran down here to hide.”

Lena laughs. 

“Well, this is a good place to hide. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“I just want them to get over it! Like who cares who I’m dating? It shouldn’t matter.”

“You’re right,” Lena says. “But, you know, I think they might care less if it weren’t such a big secret. Like if you just told them you were dating someone, they might forget about it and move on.”

Kara frowns. She’s pretty sure Lena’s right. In fact, she’d come to the exact same conclusion earlier that week. The only problem was that she wasn’t sure who to tell them she was dating. She couldn’t say Winn. After all, the whole school knew that she’d turned him down. James was well-known for having a very cute girlfriend at the nearby military academy. Pretending to date Mike would defeat the whole purpose and Kara doesn’t have any other guy friends that she could trust to go along with it. 

“I know, but like, who should I say I’m dating? Like they’d have to be on board, you know? They’d have to be okay with getting hassled about it and they’d have to be single. I can’t think of anyone who fits the bill.”

Lena pauses thoughtfully. She seems to be pondering Kara’s dilemma seriously and Kara is surprised by how much she appreciates it. No one else in her life has taken this seriously or tried to help her at all. (Alex pretends that it isn’t happening. James teases her a lot. Winn made her an online dating profile and Kara’s not sure how that would have helped at all.)

“You could… “ Lena trails off and shakes her head. 

“I could what?” 

“Nothing, never mind. It’s silly.”

“No, Lena, what was your idea? Please I’m desperate. Even if you think it’s silly, it’s probably less silly than a lot of the stuff I’ve considered.”

“You could say you were dating me…”

Kara’s jaw drops. 

“I mean, it would make sense. You said that you were hiding it because you didn’t think your sister would approve. And I think she probably wouldn’t approve of me. I mean, most people wouldn’t approve of me. It would also explain why you hid it from everyone else. I bet they’d let it go after a bit. And if they don’t we can break up publicly or something,” Lena says all in one breath.

She’s blushing by the time she’s done talking and Kara is still staring at her slack-jawed. It’s not… a terrible idea. In fact, it’s probably a great idea. But Lena is… well, first of all, a girl and second of all gorgeous and Kara can’t believe that she’s offering that. But she takes too long to stare and Lena fidgets uncomfortably and then starts to take it back. 

“But I get it if that’s too weird for you. I mean, I get why you wouldn’t want to be associated with me and my family. It was stupid of me to suggest it and—“

“No! Lena, that wasn’t what I was thinking. It’s just… I’m not… I mean, you’re a girl?”

Kara watches as the blood rushes into Lena’s cheeks and she can’t stop herself from blushing as well. 

“Oh,” Lena says. “I shouldn’t have assumed. I mean, I forget sometimes that not all girls are into other girls. That’s fine.”

Lena’s face is still bright red as she turns back to her food and starts shoveling it into her mouth. There’s only fifteen more minutes before the next class period starts and Kara is dreading leaving the safety of the basement. She just wants them to leave her _alone_. She’s pretty sure that ‘dating’ Lena might make things worse for a bit but they’ll probably leave her alone eventually. Right now, she’s worried that they’re going to gossip about her forever. 

“It’s okay. We can still do it, right? I mean we won’t be dating for _real,_ so it doesn’t really matter if I’m actually attracted to you or not, _”_ Kara says quietly, while staring at her lap. 

She’s worried that Lena didn’t heard her because she doesn’t reply immediately. But when Kara looks up she sees Lena staring at her in disbelief before she schools her features into a bit of an expressionless mask. 

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’m happy to help out,” Lena says.

“Can I, if you’re comfortable, tell people at dinner tonight?” Kara asks. 

“Yeah, sure,” Lena replies. 

“Oh, and um, can we meet here again tomorrow? I just think that we should talk about how this is going to work.”

“Sure,” Lena says and she gives Kara a somewhat strained smile. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kara asks. “Because you really don’t have to. And as soon as I tell people there’s no going back.”

“No, no, I do. And honestly, this will probably be mutually beneficial. Maybe if I’m dating you, the rest of the school will stop only seeing me as Lex’s little sister.”

Kara nods and feels a little bit relieved. She doesn’t want to be an inconvenience to Lena. She’s sure that the other girl has already suffered through her fair share of gossip and she doesn’t need more. But if she really thinks it’ll help her, Kara feels a little better. 

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you,” Lena says softly, as Kara walks out of the basement.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara doesn’t make a big announcement. Instead, she finally tells Cat, who has been pestering her about it since the word first came out. And no one can spread a rumor faster than Cat Grant. Within minutes, the whole school knows. It takes Alex less than fifteen minutes to come storming over to where Kara is sitting with James (who hasn’t stopped frowning since Kara told him her plan). 

“Lena Luthor!” she whisper shouts. “I thought you weren’t dating anyone and now you’re dating Lena Luthor? She’s bad news Kara. I can’t believe that you—“

“Alex!” Kara all but shouts and its surprises Alex enough that she falls silent. “I’m not actually dating her. She’s just helping me and she’s nothing like Lex. She’s nice and really sweet.”

“That’s what people thought about Lex before he literally killed someone,” James says angrily. 

“She has never done anything like that,” Kara spits back. “You have no evidence that she has. You’re just judging her on stuff that her brother did. Anyway, it’s not like it matters. We aren’t really dating.”

James doesn’t say anything, but his frown does get deeper. Alex lets out a huff of exasperation. 

“Kara, I swear, you do this stuff to make my life harder,” she says. 

“I don’t. I’m just hoping that if I tell them I’m dating someone and the mystery wears off they’ll leave me alone. And if not, Lena agreed to stage a public break up so that it can all be well and truly done with.”

“You’re ridiculous and this is almost certainly going to blow up in your face,” Alex says. 

Kara shrugs.  

“It can’t be worse than this.”

* * *

It does blow up in her face almost immediately. People stop coming up to her but the whispers increase. People seem less concerned that they will hear now because they’re louder and she can hear them and it makes her blood boil.  

“I can’t believe Kara is dating a _Luthor_. Do you think she tricked her?”

“What could Kara possibly see in that Luthor _trash_?”

"I can't imagine Kara and that Luthor together. She's just so... _weird_."

Kara finds herself going through the day with her hands curled into fists at her sides. By the time she makes it to the library at lunch, she’s ready to punch something. Lena is already there, picking at a Caesar salad. She doesn’t look up when Kara stumbles in. 

“You’re really well-liked you know,” Lena says softly, and there’s something hollow in her tone of voice that turns Kara's fury cold. “I’ve had four people come up to me today and tell me to stay away from you. They think I’m corrupting you.” 

Kara wants to cry. And she finds that before she can stop herself she _is_ crying. Silent tears run down her cheeks and she does her best not to sob. Lena finally looks up at her and her face drops.  

“Oh, Kara. I’m sorry for whatever they said to you. I knew they would be awful but I didn’t think that they’d be mean to you. I mean, they all love you. I’m really sorry for dragging you into this.”

“They didn’t say anything about me. Don’t worry about that. But the stuff they said about you… it was awful Lena. I mean, they don’t even _know_ you, and just because your brother… I mean, what he did was awful, but you aren’t him and they were just so _mean.”_

“Wait, you’re crying for _me?_ ” Lena asks, looking utterly startled. 

“You’ve been hearing this stuff since your freshman year haven’t you?” Kara asks softly. “How did you… I mean, how do you manage it? How do you stop yourself from going crazy?”

Lena just shrugs.

“I hide down here and I keep my head down. I mean, people stopped paying attention to me eventually. Every year when the new students come in, there’s always rumors but they fade away after a while as long as I don’t do anything.”

Kara frowns. She doesn’t like it. Hates it, in fact, and hates that it’s her fault that Lena has been pulled to the forefront and is getting abuse from her fellow classmates. 

“You don’t deserve it Lena. You’ve been so good to me and I’ve only really known you like two days. And it’s not _fair_ that you have to put up with this just to help me.”

Lena just shrugs. 

“You said that if they thought we were dating they might be nicer to you,” Kara continues. “Why hasn’t that happened yet?”

“I don’t know, Kara,” Lena says. 

“Have dinner with me tonight,” Kara says. “Maybe people need to actually see us together for them to leave you alone. And, I mean, they probably won’t bother you when we’re together. You can eat with me and my friends. They all know it’s not real so you don’t have to worry about them getting in your face. Please, Lena. You’re doing so much for me and I just want to help you.”

Lena deflates a little. 

“Okay Kara. But for now can we just stay here. I’m not ready to go out there yet. And we should probably get our story straight before we make any public appearances.”

“Our story?”

“Yeah, how we started dating.”

“Oh, yeah… um, okay.”

They spend the their lunch hour concocting an elaborate story. It starts out simple enough. They met, or rather spoke for the first time in the hallway by chance, though they’d known about each other (and had been crushing on each other) from afar for a while. Kara had (in true Kara fashion) bumped into her by accident and spilled coffee on her shirt. Kara had been flustered and taken her back to her room (though it was just as far as Lena’s) and had lent her a new shirt. That had started the beginning of a tentative friendship. 

“What do we say when people ask why they never saw us interact?” Kara asks. 

“We say that I’m shy and don’t like being in the spotlight. It’s not exactly untrue.”

The story goes like this: Lena had asked Kara out first and she’d been worried that Kara would say no even though Kara swears there's no way she ever would because _look_ at her. But Kara had kissed Lena first because Lena had been too nervous. Their first date had just been in Lena’s room (one of the few single rooms on campus) but Lena had ordered in a beautiful meal and set her desk with a tablecloth and wine glasses (not filled with wine because neither of them wanted to get in trouble for having alcohol on campus). They’d eaten dinner and then watched a cute movie. 

They had only been dating for a couple weeks and they’d been planning on telling everyone eventually, but Lena had been nervous because of her reputation. 

Lena insists she is the big spoon and though Kara is sure that’s not how it would pan out if they ever actually ended up in bed together, she lets it slide. Kara says that her favorite nickname Lena calls her is ‘pumpkin’. Lena scoffs at the suggestion but Kara is adamant.  

“I’ve always wanted someone to call me that,” Kara says, with shining eyes. 

“Whatever, _pumpkin_ ,” Lena replies sarcastically and laughs when Kara pouts. 

Kara says she hates it when Lena gets into bed with cold feet. Lena says she hates it when Kara eats food on her bed. Kara says she loves it when Lena scratches her head and plays with her hair. Lena says she loves it when Kara sends her cute texts to check on her throughout the day. 

By the time lunch hour us over, they both have learned enough about each other and created enough of a fake life that they can fool probably anyone. 

“I’ll see you at dinner then?” Lena asks nervously, shuffling her feet. 

“Yup!” Kara replies. “Um, if it would make you more comfortable, you can come to my room whenever you’re done with… um what sport do you play?”

“Tennis.”

“Right, well, whenever you’re done with tennis, you can come to my room and we can walk together.”

* * *

Lena arrives at Kara’s room just as she’s about to hop in the shower. Kara’s wearing only a towel and her shower shoes when she opens the door and Lena’s eyes flash to her bare shoulders before returning resolutely to her face. 

“I’ll just be like ten minutes, I swear,” Kara says. Soccer practice had run late. Lena is already showered and her hair has been straightened and she looks very cute in casual jeans and a sweatshirt, a far cry from what she normally wears to class.

“Oh, take your time. I don’t mind waiting."

“Okay, cool. Awesome. I’ll literally just be a sec.” 

Lena nods and watches as Kara practically flies down the hall. It’s awkward to sit on Kara’s bed, staring at her roommate’s side of the room and hoping she doesn’t come back so that Lena won’t have to deal with that particular encounter. She wonders what Kara’s roommate’s opinion on her is and what she thinks about their ‘relationship’. She decides to ask Kara when she gets the chance. 

Kara’s side of the room is beautifully decorated. It’s neat, but in a lived in sort of way. Her bed isn’t made, but the blankets have been pulled up almost as an afterthought. She doesn’t have dirty clothes lying around (like her roommate does) but she does have a couple of sweatshirts hanging off the back of her desk chair. She has Christmas lights running along the seam where the ceiling meets the wall and they illuminate the array of photos that have been posted on the wall above Kara’s bed. 

Many of them are of Kara and Alex. Lena recognizes the older Danvers sister easily. She’s almost as well-known at the school as her little sister. Many of the others are with James, the school’s football star, and a scruffy looking boy who seems to almost always be wearing a cardigan. There’s also a couple pictures of her with Clark Kent. It’s not like she didn’t know that Kara was related to the boy who had ratted on her brother and gotten him sent to prison. It’s just that it hadn’t quite computed until this moment. 

She doesn’t resent Clark Kent, though she’s pretty sure nobody would actually believe it if she told them. Everyone else seems to think that she should hate him for what he did to her brother. But she doesn’t. Clark had done the right thing. It’s Lex that she resents. She hates him in that burning way that you can only hate people you once loved. 

She’s so caught up in looking at Kara’s pictures that she nearly falls off the bed in surprise when Kara comes bursting back in like a whirlwind. 

“I think that’s the fastest shower I’ve taken ever,” she says and Lena has to look away from the way her golden hair is plastered to her shoulders, dipping into her collarbones. Kara towels her hair dry and slips on underwear and bra artfully without taking off her towel. As soon as the bra is secure, she drops the towel and Lena almost chokes.  

Kara, sweet unassuming Kara, looks like she was crafted by the gods. Lena supposes she should have known seeing as Kara is a three season varsity athlete (soccer, basketball, lacrosse) but still, it takes her by surprise. Kara doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that she’s putting her entire body on display but she doesn’t dawdle as she gets dressed.

“Okay,” she finally announces after she’s braided her wet hair to keep it out of her face. “You ready?”

Lena nods and takes her hand. They’d decided they needed to look coupley which apparently meant hand-holding since neither of them was particularly comfortable with any other form of PDA. Kara’s hand is warm in Lena’s and soft and immensely comforting as they leave the safety of Kara’s room and start to make their way to the dining hall. 

People actually stop and stare. Lena had been expecting side glances and whispers but people actually stop moving and watch them as they pass. One kid nearly trips over a tree root as he tries to watch them long after they're behind him. But no one comes up to them. No one says anything. They get food together, Kara pointing out her favorites, chatting as if nothing is wrong, though Lena can see the tension between her shoulders. Kara piles her plate to the brim, saying she’ll come back for seconds. Lena hardly takes anything. She’s not sure she can eat much right now.

Kara had apparently warned her friends that Lena was going to sit with them because they don’t say anything when she sits down next to Kara. James glares a little at Lena and she gets it, because he was friends with Clark, but she shrinks a little under his gaze. Alex doesn’t glare so much as stare intensely. It’s calculating and focused and Lena has heard enough stories about how protective the older Danvers is that she knows she’s being watched. Only Winn makes her feel comfortable. He smiles at her when she sits. They have a few classes together, namely BC Calculus and AP Physics and he starts chatting about their homework and their last test.  

Kara lets go of her hand as soon as they sit in favor of eating but she sits close enough that their knees knock occasionally. Lena had been worried that if they went out together, Kara would be subjected to the same harsh words that she’d received earlier, but everyone keeps their distance and instead they just stare. 

Dinner is a little awkward. It's clear that Lena doesn't belong at that table and it's clear that James and Alex don't want her there. But Kara ignores them and talks to Lena instead. It's mostly nonsense, inane stuff about the weather and TV shows she's watching but Lena knows it's for her sake and she appreciates it.

They stay long enough for it to not look like they are running and hiding but as soon as all five of them are finished eating, they leave. The boys go back to their dorms but Alex decides to accompany Kara when she declares that she will be walking Lena to her room. 

“How chivalrous,” Alex says snidely and Kara sticks out her tongue. 

Lena somehow ends up between the two sisters as they walk, her right hand clasped tightly into Kara’s left. The blonde girl had grabbed it as they exited the dining hall as if on instinct. She doesn't seem to be thinking too much about it but Lena is. Kara’s hand is warm and comforting and Lena realizes that other than Kara, no one has touched her at all in years. Certainly not since Lex was locked up. It's nice but it makes Lena’s heart race and she’s not sure how she feels about that. 

Kara chatters easily, catching Alex up on her day. It’s free flowing enough that Lena suspects that she updates Alex like this as often as she can. Alex listens, reacts at all the right times, but she’s watching Lena. Kara is too oblivious to notice but Lena can feel it every time Alex glances at her. 

It’s not long until they get to her room. The three of them draw a few stares from other students as they walk into the dorm. Kara is delightfully oblivious, or is at least pretending to be. Lena is used to it. Alex glares at each and every one of them until they look away, and though Lena knows it’s for Kara’s sake and not hers, she's grateful. 

“Well, this is me,” she says, gesturing to her door. 

For some reason, Kara seems legitimately dejected that she has to say goodbye.

“I should come in,” she says, leaning close enough to Lena so that she can hear her whisper. “For appearances, but also I want to talk to you for a sec.”

Lena nods and opens her door, leading Kara in. 

“Alex can you wait outside for a sec?” Kara asks, and she doesn’t wait for Alex to answer before closing the door behind her. Lena catches a glimpse of Alex looking positively murderous and she hopes that _she_ won’t be getting in trouble for that as well. 

“Well,” Kara says, looking at Lena expectantly. “How do you feel? That wasn’t terrible right?”

Lena laughs a little. 

“They’re much nicer when I’m with you. Or at least they pretend to be,” Lena says. 

Kara frowns at that and Lena doesn’t have it in her to make her feel better. 

“I wish they weren’t mean to you,” she says and she squeezes Lena’s hand. 

“It’s okay.”

“It’s _not_ ,” Kara says, fiercely. 

The sentiment hangs in the air between them for a second and Lena isn’t sure what to do with someone being protective of her. 

“Um, I was wondering about tomorrow,” Kara says. “What you’d be okay with. I mean, if people are less mean to you when I’m around then we should spend as much time together as possible probably. But if that makes you uncomfortable we totally don’t have to. Do you want to have breakfast together tomorrow? I usually just go with Winn because James and Alex skip. I get too hungry to skip though.”

“I don’t really eat breakfast either,” Lena says and she watches as Kara’s face falls for a split second before she schools it back into a smile. 

“That’s fine! Lunch then? What class do you have right before? I can pick you up and walk you there.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I _want_ to. I mean, unless you don’t want me to. In which case, I can totally leave you alone.”

Lena glances down at their still-joined hands and is struck by the fact that she’s known this girl for just over twenty-four hours and already, the thought of losing her makes her chest hurt. It’s a dangerous feeling but she files it away for later. 

“No, it’s okay. I… I would love to have lunch with you. Um, I have Calculus right before lunch. It’s in Beveridge. We can meet in the lobby?”

Kara smiles widely and squeezes her hand again. 

“Okay!! I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kara finally lets go of Lena’s hand but only in favor of giving her a hug. It’s quick but warm and Lena feels herself flushing as Kara pulls away. 

“Bye,” Kara says softly and then she’s slipping out of Lena’s room. 

* * *

About an hour after Kara leaves, there’s a knock on Lena’s door. Lena has just gotten out of the shower and slipped into her warmest pair of pajamas. She’s hunched over her desk, working on a lab report for her physics class. She stares at the door in confusion. In all of her three years at this school, not once has anyone knocked on her door for any reason. 

She opens the door cautiously. Standing on the other side is none other than Alex Danvers. Her hands are tucked deep into the pockets of her leather jacket and her expression is a little stormy. Lena doesn’t get intimidated easily but she’s a little uneasy now. 

“Can I come in?” Alex asks, though her tone suggests that she will come in regardless of what Lena decides. 

Lena doesn’t say anything, just steps aside so that Alex can pass. She closes the door behind her and takes a deep breath before turning to Alex. Alex is looking around her room curiously. 

“You’re neat,” she says conversationally. 

“My mother wouldn’t let me be anything else. Everything had to be a certain way with her or else…” Lena says. 

Alex’s eyes narrow a little. She seems to contemplate something for a second before her expression shifts into something a little more defensive.

“When I first heard that you were ‘dating’ Kara, I wondered what the hell she would want with you. You see, Kara is sweet and good and pure and she doesn’t usually associate with… well, bad people for long. But then, when I found out that it was fake, that she was only pretending to date you, I wondered what the hell you could want from her. Because I get why Kara needs someone to cover for her. She’s never been good at turning people down and Mike is a jerk. But I want to know why you went along with it?”

She pauses to let Lena answer. It takes Lena a second to figure out what she wants to say. There are a thousand thoughts floating around in her head and she doesn’t have enough words or enough time to explain them all so she goes with the simplest one.

“I… She asked me to.”

Alex blinks in surprise.

“What? That’s it?”

Lena pauses to think about it, because Alex is right. It’s not a good enough reason at all. But it is the truth. Lena’s been wondering all day why she agreed to it as well.

“She seemed… distressed, I guess. I just wanted to help.”

Alex looks at her with those searching eyes of hers and then her face twists into something almost like pity. 

“Oh my god. You _like_ her.”

Lena’s jaw drops. 

“What? No, no, I barely know her. We met _yesterday_. I mean, I couldn’t-“

“Dude,” Alex says, cutting her off. “Twenty-four hours is more than enough time to fall for my sister. It took Winn two seconds. She’s irresistible, isn’t she?”

Lena just stands there, dumbfounded. 

“I… I had every reason to hate her,” Alex says. “I did hate her at first. We adopted her when I was in 8th grade and I just wanted everyone to like me. I wanted to fit in and then all of a sudden I have to baby-sit this weird, sad twelve-year old. I was used to being an only child and having my parent's attention be on me all the time. I went from being the star only child to Kara being coddled at every turn because she was younger and she’d just lost everything. I disappeared to the background in my own house and at school my friends thought she was weird and resented that I had to watch her. They stopped inviting me places unless I could promise that my mom wouldn't make me bring her. Even so, it took less than a week for me to forget anything I had against her and for her to become the most important person in my life.”

“She… she’s adopted?”

Alex nods. 

“Both her parents died when she was twelve. Her only living relative left is Clark and he couldn’t take in a child. Our parents had been friends and my parents took her in.”

Lena thinks about how she would never have known from looking at Kara. She’d lost her whole world only a few years earlier. Lena feels a little bit bad that she can’t quite manage the same joy though she hasn’t suffered the same losses. 

“I was adopted too,” Lena says, because she’s not sure how else to continue the conversation. “I was only four though. I don’t really remember much from before.”

Alex nods. 

“Kara’s not into girls,” Alex says. “At least, not as far as I know, and I know her pretty well.”

She sighs and runs her hands through her hair and then laughs dryly. 

“I came here to warn you off her because I thought you’d hurt her. It seems that it’s more likely that you’ll be the one who’s hurt this time.”

Lena makes a little sound of protest in the back of her throat. She doesn’t want to get hurt. She’s gotten hurt her fair share of times and has come to the conclusion that she does not like it one bit.

“Kara is one of the sweetest, most empathetic people I know, but she’s also very oblivious. She won’t realize what she’s doing when she hugs you and when she holds your hand. She won’t realize that it’s hurting you,” Alex says. 

“I just want to be her friend,” Lena says and it’s true, for now at least. She doesn’t want anything else from Kara right now because she knows she won’t get it. But today, eating lunch with her, and holding her hand, and sitting next to her at dinner, was the happiest that Lena had been in a while. Maybe Kara won’t ever like her back, but she’s okay with that, as long as she doesn’t lose her altogether.

“Okay,” Alex says. 

She goes to the door and then pauses with her hand on the doorknob. 

“I still have to say this, if you hurt her, you won’t just have me but also James and Winn and whole slew of other people on your back about it,” Alex says. Her voice is soft, though, and it doesn’t sound as much like a warning should. “Just so you know.”

Lena nods her understanding and then Alex is gone. 

Lena glances back at her homework and then puts it away. It’s not due tomorrow and she knows that she won’t be able to get anything done. She lays back on her bed and stares at the ceiling and does the math. Thirty-two hours. That’s how long it took for her to fall for Kara. That’s ridiculous. But then Lena thinks of Kara’s soft blonde hair, bright blue eyes, easy smile, and fierce protectiveness and it doesn’t seem that strange at all. 

What Lena finds strange is that Kara seems to like her, believe in her, actually want to be her friend. As she falls asleep that night, she determines that she will do everything to can to remain worthy.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara nearly falls twice as she runs from Blake to Beveridge. She doesn’t want Lena to have to wait for her too long if possible, especially not if people are still being mean to her. She struggles against the stream of people coming out of the building for lunch. She gets in just as Lena is coming down the stairs from the second floor. Winn is at her side, talking to her animatedly. Lena interjects every so often with something that only makes him more excited. 

Kara doesn’t like the way Winn is looking at Lena. His eyes are bright and awed and his entire body angles toward hers. Kara remembers that he used to look at _her_ like that and she’s not jealous. She doesn’t want Winn to have feelings for her. She’d been happy when he’d dated Siobhan even though she had been mean to Kara because at least it meant Winn was moving on. She figures that it bothers her because Lena is her friend and she can do better than Winn. Not that Winn isn’t amazing, because he is, it’s just that… 

Before Kara can pinpoint the root of what’s bothering her, Lena catches sight of her and her entire expression softens. It’s not quite a smile but the crease between her eyes vanishes and the corners of her lips turn up a little. Kara waves and is overjoyed when Lena waves back. 

Once they’re close enough, Kara grabs Lena’s hand and pulls her close enough that their shoulders bump. She smooths her thumb over the back of Lena’s hand and smiles when Lena squeezes. 

“Kara, Lena knows more about hyperbolic coordinates than I do. I’m so glad you guys are ‘going out’ now,” Winn says with a wink. 

“I don’t know what hyper whatever stuff is but that sounds cool,” Kara says.

“Hyperbolic coordinates,” Winn says. “They’re…”

Kara knows his about-to-go-on-a-full-fledged-rant tone very well so she tunes out and instead focuses on Lena. She catches her looking down at their joined hands. 

“Does this make you uncomfortable?” she whispers. 

Lena smiles and shakes her head, tightening her grip so that Kara couldn’t let go if she wanted to. 

“I like it,” she whispers back. 

Kara grins despite herself. 

By the time they get to the dining hall, Winn is still talking and Lena has started to listen again. She seems genuinely interested in what he’s saying. Kara can’t make heads or tails of it, honestly, but she doesn’t mind because when Lena gets focused her eyes get greener and Kara feels like she could drown in them. 

The whispers still follow them. People openly stare at them and at their joined hands as they make their way through the dining hall. Kara sees Cat Grant watching them with sharp eyes and she wonders what sort of rumors she will spread about them.

Alex is nice to Lena when they sit down. At least she doesn’t glare at her which is an improvement. James still won’t say a word to her at all, won’t even look at her unless he has to. Kara thinks that she’ll probably have to talk to him if he keeps it up. She wants Lena to be comfortable around her and around her friends. And she doesn’t want to lose James either. 

Lunch goes well for about ten minutes until Cat slips into the seat next to James, eyes zeroing in on Lena, who falls silent under the senior’s sharp gaze. 

“So. Lena Luthor.” Cat says. “Tell me how you managed to snag sweet, innocent Kara Danvers. Many have tried in the past, many have failed. Why are you so special?”

“I see that you still haven’t learned what tact means,” Alex says snidely and Cat bares her teeth at her in what could pass for a smile to people who didn’t know her as well.

“I’m just curious,” she says innocently, but they all know that she just needs more details to keep her rumor mill running. 

“Don’t answer her,” Alex says to Lena, looking bored. 

“There’s just a lot of people wondering,” Cat continues as if Alex hadn’t spoken, “how you two even get along. After all, Kara is the school’s sweetheart. If you ask around, there isn’t a single person in the school who doesn’t like her. So, it begs the question, why is she dating a _Luthor._ ”

Cat spits the word out with so much venom that even James flinches. Kara is on her feet in an instant, doing everything she can to put herself between Lena and Cat despite the table between them hindering her. 

“She is not like her brother,” Kara spits out, more angrily than she thought she could manage. “She is sweet and kind and she has been nothing but good to me since we got together. You don’t know her at all. No one at this school knows her at all. Because you all ostracized her the moment she set foot here for something she had _nothing_ to do with.”

Cat, for the first time ever as far as anyone knows, is struck speechless. She gapes up at Kara in surprise before gaining control of herself. She fixes her shirt, smoothing out invisible wrinkles, and then clears her throat. 

“I apologize, Lena,” Cat says stiffly. “Kara makes a good point.”

“It’s okay,” Lena says and Kara wants to shake her. 

Because Lena is so ready to take on so much abuse, so much hatred that she doesn’t deserve. She’s carrying the weight of her brother’s sins as if they are her own. And it’s not _okay_. It’s not _fair_ and Lena should fight more, fight back. But Cat has already relaxed back into her seat and Lena’s hand has found Kara’s thigh and Kara forces herself to take a breath. 

“So,” Cat says, “How long have you been together?”

Kara wants to snap at her and says it’s none of her business, especially not after how she’d been treating Lena. She doesn’t have a chance though because Lena answers quickly. 

“Only a couple of weeks,” she says, glancing at Kara as she does. 

Kara nods encouragingly. 

“And why keep it a secret?” Cat asks, eyeing Kara as she speaks. 

“Lena was… um,” Kara stutters. 

Even if this is all fake and even if they made this story up in the basement of the library, she doesn’t feel like this part is her story to tell. She glances at Lena in concern.

“I was nervous,” Lena says, softly. “I know what people here think of me, and I didn’t want to subject Kara to that.”

Cat grimaces a little, looking even more chastised than when Kara had yelled at her, but she doesn’t stop. She keeps going, practically grilling them. She asks about their first date, who asked who first, whose room they normally stayed in. Kara bristles at each question because it’s not really her business but Lena seems determined to prove some sort of point. She runs her hand soothingly over Kara’s knee every time she feels her tense and lets Cat ask whatever she wants. 

Lena is better at answering the questions than Kara is. She’s cool and collected and somehow seems to remember every detail that they’d concocted the day before. She even throws in a few loving glances at Kara that even though she knows it must be an act, make her blush.

Kara stumbles over her answers a little more. She’s suddenly hyper aware of the fact that this isn’t real and that whatever Cat draws out of this conversation will be spread throughout the school the moment she leaves the table. She wonders what sort of things people will say if they find out it was all a ploy. She knows that, whatever happens, Lena will have it worse than her and she doesn’t want that. So she does her best to make it believable even as her palms start to sweat and she stutters over every other word.

After nearly twenty minutes of non-stop questioning, Alex threatens to drag Cat out of the dining hall by her impeccable hair if she asks one more question. Alex could probably tell that Kara was starting to wear thin and even Lena’s ready-made answers were starting to run out as they reached the edges of the fantasy she and Kara had created. 

Cat glowers a little at Alex but she knows better than to actually argue. She stands up and then pauses. She looks between Lena and Kara and sighs. 

“I am very smart,” Cat says, as if she feels she shouldn’t have to say it all and they should just _know_. “I am astute and observant. And I can tell when people are lying.”

Kara glances at Lena and finds her expressionless. She looks back at Cat, who is eyeing her directly now. 

“I assume you have your reasons for lying and I’m sure they are good. So I will not… expose you to the rest of the school. And most people at this mediocre school are _not_ as smart as me and will not see through your lies. But… there are some who might. If you want to keep up this charade, you’re going to have to do much better.”

Kara must look terrified, because Cat’s expression softens. 

“Just relax a little,” she says. “Around each other. You look like… you’re barely friends. The fact that Lena has had her hand on your leg this entire time helps, but you’re still sitting a foot apart and you barely looked at each other this whole time. Try to _look_ like you like each other a little bit.”

She doesn’t wait for a response before flipping her hair over her shoulder and marching off. Lena exhales sharply next to Kara and removes her hand from her thigh. Kara feels cold where her hand used to be. 

“She’s a little right, you know,” Alex says, dryly. “You guys were so cozy last night but as soon as someone who doesn’t know your secret shows up, you act like you’ve only known each other for two days.”

“They _have_ only known each other for the last two days,” Winn says, helpfully. 

“That’s not the point, _Winslow_ ,” Alex snipes back and laughs when Winn’s face falls. 

“I hate that name,” Winn grumbles. 

“I’m just saying,” Alex says. “You two need to look a little more in love if you want this to work out. Have neither of you been in a relationship before?”

“You _know_ I haven’t Alex,” Kara says because if anyone in her life knew that she’d dated someone it would be her big sister. 

“Everyone at this school hates me,” Lena says. “Present company _mostly_ excluded,” she adds with a pointed look at James, who is pretending not to pay attention. “Who would I have dated?”

“Fair enough,” Alex says with a shrug. “So, neither of you actually know what it’s like to date someone, so it’s gonna be hard to fool everyone. But step one is to get more comfortable around each other. Maybe hang out sometime? Do homework together? I don’t know. You just have to be less stiff.”

Kara looks at Alex curiously. When Alex had first found out about them, she’d been pissed. She hadn’t said as much because she was far too supportive a sister to do that, but it had been clear in her expression that she did not approve. So why is she helping them now? She seems suddenly invested that this work out. 

“Would you like to…” Lena starts and then pauses and starts again. “Neither of us has class during D-block. We can meet up and do homework?”

She sounds so tentative as if she’s asking so much of Kara. Which is ridiculous because this is 100% for Kara’s benefit. Lena, despite claiming that this will help her, is getting very little out of their arrangement.

“Yeah, of course!!” Kara replies enthusiastically. “Where do you want to meet? We could go to the library, though the basement is kind of depressing. Have you really been eating lunch there every day? Do you also do work there?”

Lena chuckles. 

“It’s not that bad. And I usually do work in my room. It’s much more pleasant there. I only eat in the library because it’s closer to the dining hall and I can always grab a book to read. But why don’t you come to my room to do work? I think we’ll both be more comfortable there.”

“Sounds great! I’ll go there after C-Block ends. I’m in the Lower Mod so it’ll take _forever_ to get there.”

Lena smiles softly at Kara’s whining. The lower mod is the literally the furthest place Kara could have class from Lena’s room but it’s an ten minute walk at most, and though most of it is uphill, it’s really not that bad. Especially not to someone as fit as Kara seems to be.

* * *

 

It becomes tradition that every day, Kara will go to Lena’s room during D-Block. At first, they just do their homework. Kara listens to music on her headphones, bopping her head lightly to the beat. She curls up on Lena’s bed because Kara doesn’t like being confined to a desk and chair and likes to stretch out her legs and be able to move.

But Kara, unless under the threat of a looming due date, is incapable of being silent or still when around other people. It starts with little videos that she finds on Facebook. At first she just giggles on her own, but when Lena glances over, she hops of the bed to show her. Most of the time Lena thinks they’re somewhat inane but it’s easy to laugh along with Kara. 

Then, Kara finds out that Lena hasn’t watched her favorite TV show and then the idea of homework goes out the window entirely. For the next two weeks, after Lena gets out of her American History class, she goes back to her room and curls up on the bed next to Kara and they watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s a fun show, Lena is willing to admit, but it’s much more fun to watch the way Kara lights up around her favorite characters. And it’s even better when Kara presses their shoulders together and leans close to talk even though there’s really no need. 

Lena longs to curl up into her for real, though. To dip her head to the side and rest it on her shoulder. To have Kara throw her arm around Lena’s and pull her close. It’s not until she gets casual physical contact from Kara every day that she realizes how touch-starved she is. She craves it now, at almost every moment of the day. And it’s best when she’s with Kara alone, but it’s also good when they’re out together. When Kara holds her hand and gives her warm hugs. 

And Lena has started to seek it out. When they’re together, she’ll always reach for her free hand, always lean towards the warmth of her body. She’ll sink into the hugs Kara offers without a second thought. Sometimes she thinks about being a little more bold. She’s had the urge, a couple of time, to press a kiss to the arch of Kara’s cheek or to the crown of her head but she always stops herself. Always pulls away. This is all pretend after all. 

The whispers around them do die down a little after a week and a half. Lena thinks that maybe Cat had a hand in it. People’s attentions get turned elsewhere. A rumor that one of the English teachers is pregnant arises. A rumor that one of the RA’s got caught having sex in the basement of his dorm gets spread. People forget about Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers. 

Lena starts spending each day wondering when Kara will call it off. After all, it was just a charade. And now that people’s eyes are elsewhere they don’t need to hold hands, they don’t need to eat lunch and dinner together every day. Kara doesn’t need to watch Buffy with her. But nothing changes. And slowly, but surely, Lena lets her guard down and lets herself believe that maybe she and Kara can actually be friends. 


	4. Chapter 4

Christmas break comes around and Kara is suddenly aware of the fact that she has one more person to miss during the three weeks she’s at home. And she finds that, for some reason, it’s worse with Lena than it ever was with any of her other friends. She’ll miss Winn and James, of course, but she’s gotten so used to have Lena in her life every day that she’s not sure what she’ll do without her. And it’s all made worse knowing that Lena will not be having a merry Christmas. 

“What are you doing for Christmas break?” 

“Going back to the family mansion,” Lena says and Kara notices how she didn’t say home. 

“So you’ll get to see your mother?”

Lena scoffs. 

“No, she’s out of town on business for the next three weeks. I’m pretty sure she planned it around my break. It’s probably better that way though.”

“So you’ll be alone?” 

“Yeah, pretty much. It’s okay though. I’m used to it.”

Kara doesn’t get it. She doesn’t think she’ll ever understand how Lena can be so okay with being mistreated, with being thrown aside. It’s all foreign to Kara who has always been loved and cared for. Sometimes she thinks about how parallel their stories run. Both adopted, both lost parents they loved, but in the end, the big difference is that Alex and Eliza were loving and kind and they made sure Kara never felt alone. Lena never had that. She doesn’t talk about her mother much, but it’s clear that the woman has done nothing but push Lena away since she was young. And Lex may have been kind to her but he turned out to be even worse than her mother.

Lena has lost the only person who ever truly cared for her. She speaks of her father fondly but rarely. The memory of his death seems to be fairly painful to her, even years after it happening. Losing him had meant more than just losing a father. His death had left her alone in a way that, despite having lost her parents, Kara never had been. It may be a little late but Kara resolves to make sure Lena never feels alone again. 

“Well, we’ll text every day. I promise. Tell me what your home address is so I can send you a present.”

“Oh, you don’t have to,” Lena says brushing her off. 

“I know that, but I _want_ to. Please Lena, let me do this for you.”

Lena blushes and grumbles a little but eventually hands over her address, but only once Kara promises to tell her hers. They stare softly at each other for a bit and Kara does her best to memorize the curve of Lena’s cheekbones, the lines of her lips, and the green of her eyes. When she’s convinced that she won’t forget, Kara lets herself fall into Lena’s lap and curls up against her. Lena’s hands immediately go into her hair, running through the soft strands. 

“I’m really gonna miss you,” Kara says sadly. 

“I’ll miss you too. But it’s only three weeks. We’ll be back before you know it.”

All the same, when Kara waves goodbye to Lena at the airport, she still feels a little like crying. 

They text almost constantly. Lena doesn’t have anything better to do, and Kara misses her with an intensity that borders on painful. Alex makes it better, of course, by doing her best to keep Kara busy. They go to the beach, though it’s a little chilly out, and collect shells. They go ice-skating at the indoor rink. They make cookies and ginger bread houses. But Kara spends most of the time thinking about how this would be way more fun if Lena were there. She thinks about how it’s not fair that Lena can’t be here.

On Christmas Day, she opens one of the presents under the tree to find a Supergirl onesie that she’d been mooning over, a box of her favorite chocolates, and a gift card to the Chinese place near school that she liked to order potstickers from. She’s in the Supergirl onesie in a split second and she sends a picture of her beaming in it to Lena. She’d only sent Lena a scarf, red and handmade and very warm, and a handwritten note and she hopes that Lena loves it as much as she love her gift. 

She gets a picture back half an hour later of Lena curled up on her couch in her pajamas, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and her chin tucked into the scarf. It’s captioned with the words “It’s perfect. I love it. Thank you” and Kara’s heart soars. 

The days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve seem to last forever. Alex has gotten bored or tired of dragging Kara around everywhere and Kara’s friends from home are all with their families. She feels like she’s going crazy and missing Lena is only making it worse. 

By the time she and Alex board the plane back to school, Kara is practically vibrating with excitement. The flight, which was only a few hours long, seems to last forever but eventually they touch down and Kara is up and out of her seat as soon as the fasten-seatbelt sign is off. 

“Geez Kara, chill,” Alex says grumpily as she’s dragged through the airport. “Where’s the fire?”

“Lena’s flight got in an hour ago,” Kara replies. “I want to see her.”

Once they get past baggage claim, Alex and Kara make their way over to where the bus will meet them at eight to take them back to school. Kara sees James first because he’s bigger and takes up a lot of space. But when she catches sight of Lena sitting in the seat next to him, he fades into the background. 

“Lena!” she calls and abandoning her suitcase with Alex, she rushes forward to hug her. 

Lena blinks in surprise but hugs her back just as tightly. 

“I missed you,” Kara whispers into Lena’s ear and Lena tightens her grip. 

“I missed you too, Kara."

“And what am I?” James asks, grumpily. “Chopped liver?”

Kara giggles at him and quickly hugs him as well, having to stand on her tip-toes to reach. 

“I missed you too James. How was you break? Did you see Papa Lane? Does he still hate you?”

“Yeah,” James says. “I went over for dinner on Christmas Eve and he definitely still hates me.”

“How can he not like you?” Lena asks seeming genuinely confused. Her friendship with him is still tentative. Kara knows that James has gotten over any rancor he had for her in the first place, but the way he treated her initially still hangs between them. They’ve been making progress though and Kara is immensely happy about it. 

“He doesn’t like that Lucy is dating a football player. He thinks it’s a pointless sport and thinks that I should be spending my time bettering myself. To be honest, I’m pretty sure he would be against anyone she dated though, so I try not to let it get to me.”

“Well, he’s an idiot,” Kara says forcefully. “You are wonderful and any girl would be honored to date you.”

“What did you get up to for break?” James asks as a change in conversation, because Lucy’s dad is really the main sore point of their relationship and he doesn't like talking about it. Kara gets the hint and goes into a full-blown rant about her break. She slides into the seat on the other side of Lena and takes her hand without thinking about it. The ache in her chest that had built up over break, dissipates as Lena leans close enough that their shoulders touch. She doesn’t say much, preferring to listen as James and Kara swap stories but her presence alone is enough to make Kara happy.

They chit-chat until it’s time to board the bus. In previous years, Kara has always shared a seat with James in order to catch up with him while Alex found someone from her year to sit with. But this year, without having to talk about it, James automatically goes to sit by Alex so that Lena and Kara can sit next to each other. 

They don’t say much. They’ve been in such constant contact over break that there isn’t really much to say. They sit close instead, putting up the arm rest that divides them so that Lena can rest her head against Kara’s shoulder and intertwine their hands. She smells comfortingly like home and Kara feels whole for the first time in three weeks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this week. Thanks for reading you guys!!


	5. Chapter 5

They fall right back into the swing of things once school starts back up. Though their schedules have changed, Lena and Kara still have D-Block off together and they keep making their way slowly but surely though Buffy. Everything feels perfect and balanced and Lena has been so happy in the last couple months that she wonders what she did to deserve it. She hopes that nothing ever changes.  

Of course, the universe has other plans. They’re a week back into classes and everyone has settled in enough to remeber what’s coming up. The first Saturday night of February is always set aside for Dwight Night, named after the founder of the school, and the only formal dance that underclassmen can attend. Already, elaborate and public proposals are happening. One of the acapella group leaders asks his buddies to help him sing to his girlfriend. A message is written out in the snow in front of one of the dorms. It very quickly becomes impossible to escape. The question hanging over everyone’s head is 'who are you going with?'. 

Of course, Lena has never gone before. No one would go with her, whether as a date or even just as friends, and appearing at a formal dance in formal wear did not quite fit into her plans of keeping her head down. Therefore, the thought of going this year doesn’t cross her mind until one day, she’s eating lunch with Alex and Winn. Kara has a group project that she and the rest of her group mates had procrastinated on and they are doing their best to scrape it together last minute. Lena can see them sitting a few tables away and every so often Kara will look over at her and smile.  

Over the last month or so, Lena has gotten comfortable around Winn and Alex. Alex still looks at her like she pities her sometimes but she’s smart and she likes that Lena is too. Winn could very well become Lena’s best friend. He’s almost as interested in mechanical engineering as she is, and she’s almost as interested in computer systems as he is and they end up working really well together. Normally they can blow through an entire lunch period talking about some new journal article they’ve read or a new project they want to try. 

But today, the topic of conversation inevitably turns to Dwight Night.

“Ugh,” Winn whines at Alex, “I can’t believe even _you_ got asked.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snaps back.

“Nothing, nothing,” Winn says, holding his hands up in surrender. “You’re just a little… prickly.”

“Oh, I’ll show you prickly,” Alex says, and is half a second from climbing over the table before Lena decides to save Winn. 

“Who asked you?” 

Alex immediately melts back into her seat and a soft blush rises to her cheeks. 

“Maggie Sawyer." 

“Oh, is that the pretty swimmer that you’ve been crushing on forever?” Lena says. She remembers Alex talking about it to Kara a while back.

“Yeah, I’m really excited,” Alex says, and it shows in her eyes. “It’s just, I have no clue what to wear. I don’t own any fancy dresses like that and I’m really nervous.”

“I have a few in my closet,” Lena says, “You can borrow whichever one you like best.”

“Which one do _you_ plan on wearing?” Alex asks. 

“Me?” Lena says, surprised. “I… I wasn’t…. I mean, I didn’t plan on going.”

“What?” Winn and Alex’s exclamations are perfectly synchronized. 

Lena blinks in surprise. 

“Why would I go?” Lena asks. “Who would I go with? I don’t even know what I’d do at one of these.”

Winn shakes his head in exasperation and Alex rolls her eyes. 

“You’re going with Kara, obviously, because you’re ‘dating’ remember? And you’ll dance. With her and with all of us,” Alex says. “Just because I’m going with Maggie doesn’t mean I’m not getting video of Winn dancing.”

“Hey! I’m a great dancer.”

“He’s a marvelous ballroom and tap dancer,” Alex says with a smirk. “He’s really bad at every other kind of dance.”

Winn slides back into his seat with a grumble. Lena doesn’t say anything in response. Truthfully, she’s still trying to wrap her head around it all. She hadn’t thought about the possibility of going, much less of going with Kara. She’d figured that Kara would have gotten tired of the facade and found someone else that she wanted to go with. 

“Hey, Lena,” Alex says softly. “What’s going on up there?”

“Nothing,” Lena replies but when Alex gives her a reproving look, she sighs and elaborates. “I never thought that Kara would want to go with me. I mean, she’s got so many other friends and people who want to go with her and-" 

“Lena, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Alex says, placing her hand on Lena’s wrist to get her to stop talking. “Kara _loves_ you. I’ve been her big sister for years and let me tell you, you’re one of her best friends ever. You’re right up there with James and Winn and me. Hell, do you know how many times she’s blown me off to hang out with you?” 

Lena’s jaw drops because she’s seen Kara around Alex and it’s clear that there’s no one more important in the world to her. The thought of Lena coming ahead of Alex in any way is unfathomable. 

“She assumed you’d be going with her,” Alex continues. “I mean, she’s been blabbing about it all week.”

Lena fidgets, unsure of what to do with all of the emotions flooding into her chest. Alex and Winn at least seem to understand because they don’t try to force her to talk. Instead, Alex just jokes about how at least Lena already has a dress and the conversation moves on.

* * *

 

Lena spends the next twenty-four hours in her own head, convincing herself that Alex is wrong and that there’s no way Kara would ever want to go to a dance with her. By the time lunch comes around the next day, Lena is demure and glum and her mood only gets worse when she sees that, once again, Kara is not at the lunch table. She dumps her backpack unceremoniously by her chair and goes to get food, ignoring Alex and Winn’s concerned looks. 

She makes it halfway to the food station before someone stops her and hands her a rose. It’s a boy named Adam, who she recognizes as one of Kara’s friends. She’s afraid for a second that he’s going to ask her to the dance with him (he's cute enough but she only wants to go if she gets to go with Kara) but he just smiles and walks off without saying anything. Next, it’s Leslie, who worked with Kara on her group project. Then Susan and then a whole slew of other people are just walking up to her and handing her roses until she’s got twelve in her hands. 

She stares at the bouquet in her hands dumbfounded and confused until there are two hands covering her eyes. 

“Guess who?”

It’s obviously Kara. Lena would know her voice and the warmth of her hands anywhere.  

“Kara,” Lena says and she’s surprised at how breathy it comes out. 

Kara pulls her hands away and Lena turns so that she can face her. Kara is holding one more rose and she hands it to Lena with a strangely vulnerable expression on her face. 

“Lena Luthor,” she says softly, though by now the dining hall is quiet enough that its audible. “Will you go to Dwight Night with me?”

Lena knows that if she opens her mouth she will cry. There’s so much welling up in her chest. Her own fears and expectations colliding violently with reality and she can’t seem to sort it all out. So instead, she just nods and is rewarded by Kara’s most brilliant smile and being pulled into a tight hug. She almost drops the roses in her haste to hug back. Lena is vaguely aware of the smattering of applause and cheers that are almost courtesy for public prom-posals like this.

“Thank you for saying yes,” Kara whispers in her ear.

Kara pulls away but she grabs Lena’s free hand and leads her back to the table. 

“I wanted to… I’m sorry if that was too public or it made you uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure you’d like it. But I wanted to show you that they aren't afraid of you anymore,” Kara says. “The people I asked for help didn’t object at all. They were excited, really. And everyone out there in the crowd, you weren’t a Luthor to them just now. You were Lena and I just wanted you to know that. I know that you don’t see it sometimes, but I do and I’m really happy that they’re starting to see you the way I do.”

Lena places the roses gently on the table next to her and this time, because it feels right, because she doesn’t have the words to express what she feels, she presses a kiss to Kara’s cheek. 

“Thank you,” she says and just as she expected her voice cracks. “This is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

Kara frowns a little but then her expression smooths out into a smile. 

“I’ll go and grab us food,” Kara says softly. “Don’t worry. I know what you like.”

Lena’s not worried though. She’s pretty sure she would eat anything Kara got her. She sits at the table and ignores the way Winn is grinning at her. 

“I told her that you weren’t sure she wanted you to come with her to the dance,” Alex says. “She was surprised that you ever considered that you wouldn’t go together. I told her she should ask you and she told me not to worry, that she already had a plan. Apparently, she’s been working on this for two weeks.”

Before Lena can properly formulate a response, Kara is back with two plates. Her own has three slices of pizza and a few vegetables because Lena and Alex have both been on her case about it. The other has chicken parmesan and a slice of garlic bread and Lena’s mouth waters. It’s her favorite meal after all. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Alex frown at the plate. 

“They had chicken parm today? How did I miss that?”

Lena watches in fascination as Kara blushes to the tips of her ears. 

“You didn’t miss it,” Kara says softly. “I asked Jess to make it for Lena.”

Jess was part of the kitchen staff. She was the one who had always snuck Lena tupperware of food back when she’d eaten in the library. She’d seen the way Lena had been all but harassed by her classmates during her freshman year and had pulled her into the kitchen and let her eat in there. She said that she couldn’t do that all the time because students weren’t allowed in the kitchens but if she came to the back door where the kitchen got food deliveries, she would sneak Lena a meal to eat elsewhere. Before meeting Kara, it had been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her and she’d made sure that the school gave Jess a well-deserved raise. 

“How did you know that Jess would help?” Lena asked. 

“Because she’s really nice and because after you stared eating with us, she told me that she was glad you found someone.”

“I… thank you, Kara,” Lena says choking over the words. 

“You’re welcome,” Kara says earnestly. 

Lena stuffs some food into her mouth so that she won’t cry or say something stupid like ‘I think I’m falling in love with you.’ It tastes wonderful and fresh, unlike a lot of the dining hall food, and Lena reminds herself to find out when Jess’s birthday and get her a gift. 

* * *

When Lena sees Kara the night of the dance, she wonders if it’s possible for her heart to beat out of her chest. Kara’s dressed in a deep blue dress with a dipping neckline that clings to her waist and hips. It flares out slightly over her thighs and falls a few inches above her knees. With her hair up in a lose side bun and just a hint of lipstick replacing her usual lip gloss Kara looks like a vision. 

Kara and the others haven’t noticed her yet. They’re gathered on the grassy expanse in front of Kara’s dorm for pictures and Lena just takes the opportunity to watch. Alex is teasing Kara and though Lena can’t hear her, she’s pretty sure that it’s because Kara looks wonderful and grown up and she’s not wearing a cardigan for once in her life. Alex doesn’t look so bad either in one of Lena’s favorite little black dresses and Maggie can hardly pull her eyes away. Winn looks absolutely dashing in a well-fitted suit and a dark purple bow-tie that he can’t stop fidgeting with. James is setting up his camera while talking to a cute brown-haired girl who Lena assumes is Lucy, visiting for the weekend to go to the dance. 

And then, Kara is turning towards her and Lena watches as she notices her. Kara has a soft smile on her face until her eyes land on Lena and then her jaw drops. Her expression is somewhere between surprise and delight and for a second they just stare at each other from a distance. And then Alex is calling out to Lena and the spell is broken. 

She makes her way over, cautious in her heels on the grass until Kara can put her arm around her waist and pull her close. Everyone else set themselves up around them, listening to James’s shouted instructions as he tries to position them perfectly. Winn and Alex are arguing about where they should stand (Winn is arguing for symmetry, Alex just wants to stand next to Maggie) and Kara leans in to whisper in Lena’s ear. 

“You look incredible,” she says softly. 

Lena shakes her head. 

“Only half as good as you.”

“Impossible,” Kara whispers. “You’re the prettiest girl in the world right now.”

Lena feels a pang in her chest at Kara’s words. She _knows_ that Kara is just being nice. She _knows_ that Kara has probably said similar things to Alex and Maggie and Lucy, who all look gorgeous. She knows that Kara is sometimes over-earnest and overly nice and that it doesn’t _mean_ anything. But god, she wishes it did. 

She’s starting to realize now what Alex had meant when she said that it was probably Lena who would end up hurt. Because now that they’re well and truly friends, now that Lena isn’t spending every day worrying that Kara will get bored of her, her feelings for Kara get harder and harder to ignore. And it’s starting to hurt when she says stuff like that. When she leans in to talk to Lena conspiratorially and close enough to kiss. When she casually grabs Lena’s hand entwining their fingers as if they belong together. Like she and Kara could actually become something someday. Like she isn’t doomed to watch Kara find a sweet boy to fall in love with. 

But she doesn’t let herself dwell on it because James is rushing over to slot himself behind Lucy before the camera flashes. Lena plasters a grin onto her face that’s only slightly forced. Kara’s hand tightens around her waist pulling her closer and her heart races. 

Winn takes pictures of the individual couples. James standing behind Lucy, his arms wrapped around her waist. Another of them leaning together, foreheads touching (which takes some doing and a footstool because James towers over Lucy). Maggie curled under Alex’s arm. And then another one, mostly for kicks, of Maggie pretending to propose with her corsage. And then it’s Lena and Kara’s turn. The first is a little awkward and stilted. They stand side by side, hands clasped between them. Winn yells at them to ‘look more like a couple damn it!’

Then, Kara is wrapping her arm around Lena’s waist again and pressing a kiss into her cheek. Lena doesn’t dare move, frozen under Kara’s lips, but she must look good regardless because the camera flashes and Winn mutters “Beautiful.”

They get a few more pictures. Lena returning the favor to kiss Kara on the cheek. Kara doing her best to kneel in her dress and Lena sitting on her knee (she doesn't get the point of this one but Kara insisted and Alex and Maggie are laughing so Lena goes along). For the last one, Kara dips Lena playfully and Lena laughs. (When they look at the pictures later, that will be Lena’s favorite because they’re looking into each other’s eyes and Lena looks so _happy._ ) 

Once pictures are over, they go to dinner. Alex had gotten them a reservation at a nearby Italian restaurant a week and half earlier. Most of the other patrons were students from the school looking for a somewhat fancy dinner (i.e. not from the school’s dining hall) before the big night. Dinner itself is uneventful but so, so lovely. If anyone had asked Lena what she’d be doing for Dwight Night even a month and a half ago, she would have said nothing. But now she’s sitting with Winn on her left and Kara on her right and she’s having so much fun. 

Finally, but also far too soon, they are back at school. The dance is being held in the school’s dining hall but most of the tables and chairs, save a few holding little dessert snacks, have been removed and the overhead lights turned off in favor of more party-suitable lighting. The moment they enter the dining hall, Lena feels like she’s been transported to another dimension. Colors are all wrong and it's ten degrees hotter and it smells like a cross between body odor and far, far too many different kinds of perfume. It seems most of the school is in the dining hall already dancing to whatever popular song the DJ is playing right now. It’s loud and dark but somehow bright as well with all the moving lights. Teachers stand around the edges seemingly torn between having to perform their chaperoning duties and not getting involved. It’s all so much more than Lena was prepared for and it’s very overwhelming. 

Lena’s hand tightens around Kara’s instinctively and the next thing she knows she’s being pulled to a stop into a slightly more quiet corner of the room as the rest of the group goes on. 

“Are you okay?” Kara asks. 

“Everyone is here,” Lena replies. 

“Yeah, does that bother you? We don’t have to be here, you know.”

“No, I’m fine,” Lena says. 

“Are you sure?” Kara asks, and her eyes seem to shine an even brighter blue in the colored lights. She’s so earnest and beautiful and _caring_ that it calms Lena down immediately. And for the first time since they met, Lena makes a selfish request. 

“Yes, I’m sure. Just… stay with me? Please?”

Kara breaks into a grin and squeezes Lena’s hand. 

“I’ll be with you the whole time.” 

* * *

 

Once Lena gets over her anxiety and discomfort, she actually has a lot of fun. It takes a lot of prodding and poking from Alex and Maggie but eventually they get her to dance. She fares only slightly better than Winn, who is stiff and all too conservative with his movements. They tease him mercilessly until Lena takes pity and tells him that she can ballroom dance and lets him sweep her into his arms. It feels ridiculous to ballroom dance to a song most people just bounce in place to, but Winn is grinning at her and Kara is laughing and Lena can’t bring herself to mind. 

By the time the dance starts to wind down, Lena is exhausted in a way she hasn’t been in a while. Her feet hurt and she’s overheating and her voice is raw from trying to talk over the music but she feels happy and alive. James and Lucy vanished an hour earlier probably to take advantage of some dark corner somewhere on campus. In an attempt to get students to return to their dorms without explicitly telling them to, the teachers tell the DJ to change the music to something slower. Winn dips out as soon as he hears the change. 

“I’m not sticking around to watch all you cute couples be cute and whatever while I stand here alone. I’m heading back to the dorm. I’ll see you lovely ladies tomorrow.”

Maggie offers a hand to Alex and asks her to dance. Alex complains about Maggie being cheesy but she takes her hand and blushes. And then it’s just Lena and Kara standing somewhat awkwardly side by side. 

“I should probably go back to my dorm,” Lena says. What she really wants is to ask Kara to dance. She wants to hold her close and sway slowly and just be with her. But she’s not sure how to ask for that without blowing all of her plans of friendship. Kara turns to look at her and disappointment flashes across her face before smoothing out into something a little more curious. 

“If you want to, I’ll walk you back,” Kara says. “But I’d really like to dance with if that’s okay with you. Just one dance.”

Lena isn’t sure she’ll make it through the dance without spontaneously combusting or without her heart beating out of her chest but there’s no way she’d ever turn Kara down. She slips her hand into Kara’s and lets herself be led to the edge of the dance floor. Kara’s free hand slips to her waist and pulls her closer so that they are practically chest to chest.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Kara asks softly.

“I did,” Lena says. “I’m glad I came.”

Kara nods. 

“I’m glad you came too.”

“I like your friends a lot,” Lena says. “They’re fun.”

Kara frowns at that. 

“They’re also your friends,” Kara says. “You know that right?”

That’s something that Lena is very slowly coming to terms with. She knows Winn and Kara consider her a friend but James, Alex, or Maggie seeing her as anything other than that weird girl Kara is pretending to date seems unlikely. But she’s getting used to not feeling like she’s intruding. 

“Yeah,” Lena says and she’s not sure Kara believes her because the skin between her eyebrows draws together but she lets it go. 

“Good,” she says, “because we’re keeping you around. I know that this started as you pretending to date me, and I know that it was kind of bad situation and that you got a lot of abuse because of it. But I’m glad it happened. I can’t imagine what my life would be like right now if I hadn’t met you.”

Lena looks up so that she’s staring right into Kara’s eyes. They’re so blue and wide and earnest, and the moment hangs between them more heavily than anything Lena’s ever felt. It feels important in a way that makes Lena’s heart race and palms sweat. She doesn’t dare move though half of her wants to press closer into Kara and the other half wants to run and run and run.  

After a few seconds, Kara takes the decision away from her. Lena’s so busy trying to not panic that she doesn’t notice Kara leaning in. It’s only when Kara’s lips meet hers that she notices that Kara has moved at all. The kiss lasts barely a second and Lena immediately mourns that she didn’t savor it like she could have because Kara is pulling away with a look of complete and total panic in her eyes. 

She drops Lena’s hand and wrenches her body away and the next thing Lena knows, she’s standing alone on the dance floor with tingling lips. 


	6. Chapter 6

Kara runs straight to Alex’s room. She knows Alex is still at the dance but Alex’s roommate is more than used to seeing Kara at odd hours and doesn’t hesitate to let her in. She asks if Kara is okay when she sees the tears in her eyes but Kara just shakes her head and curls up on Alex’s bed. 

The familiar smell of her big sister on the sheets calms her down enough that she won’t have a panic attack but it doesn’t stop the tears running down her cheeks. She cries silently for another half an hour until Alex shows up sporting a dopey grin, at least until she catches sight of her little sister curled up on her bed.  

Kara feels bad that she’s ruining Alex’s otherwise perfect night. She knows that Alex had been waiting for this practically since she first met Maggie and she knows that this night should be about Alex and how the girl she's liked for so long finally likes her back. But Kara’s in the middle of a crisis and she doesn't know who else to go to. 

“Kara, what happened? Are you okay?” Alex says, immediately dropping to her knees next to the bed so that her eyes are level with Kara’s. She brushes some loose strands of hair out of Kara’s eyes. “Did Lena do something to you?”

“No!” Kara says, sitting up quickly and startling Alex in the process. “She didn’t do anything. It’s my fault. I messed up.”

Alex moves to sit next to Kara on the bed and pulls her into her lap. 

“What happened?” Alex asks, her voice soft and neutral, her fingers playing with Kara’s hair. 

“I kissed her,” Kara says. “I kissed my best friend. It’s just that she was so pretty in her dress and make up and her hair. And we were dancing and she was really close. And I think I ruined everything.”

Alex furrows her brow.

“Do you like her?” she asks. “Do you actually like her or was it just spur of the moment?

Kara falls silent. She hadn’t thought about it before, hadn’t had to. Things with Lena were good and she’d never had reason to question them. Except when she thinks about it, she realizes that she’s never had a friend like Lena before. She’s never had anyone that she spends time with every day, that she misses nearly constantly when they’re apart. She realizes that she and Lena have been dating for all intents and purposes. They held hands, cuddled and had movie dates, and ate most meals together. In their attempt to seem like a couple, they had transitioned almost seamlessly into actually _being_ a couple. And Kara had taken it for granted and hadn't bothered to examine the way she felt whenever Lena walked into a room.

“Yeah, I think I do,” Kara says. “I really, really like her Alex.”

She hears Alex let out a soft sigh that Kara can’t decipher.

“What did Lena say to you? I mean, after you kissed her.”

“I… I don’t know. I ran away.”

“You ran away?” Alex asks. “Why?”

“She didn’t… I mean, I kissed her without her permission and I know she doesn’t feel that way about me." 

“How do you know?” Alex asks.

Kara turns to look up at Alex’s disbelievingly. 

“I’m serious. How do you know?”

Kara falls silent. 

“Lena adores you,” Alex says. “She spends every day with you. She knows your favorite food, your favorite color, which songs you refuse to listen to. She knows that you like cinnamon in your hot chocolate and that you hate scary movies, not because they scare you, but because you think they’re boring. She watches silly TV shows with you every day and eats almost every meal with you.”

“We’re friends,” Kara says, “That’s what friends do.”

“No, Kara. I’m her friend. Winn is her friend. You… you’ve always been more to her.” 

The way Alex says it is so sure that Kara finds herself almost believing it. But the idea of gorgeous, smart, funny, kind, wonderful Lena Luthor liking her is ridiculous. She’s just… Kara Danvers. She eats too much and too quickly. She trips over her own feet. She’s not particularly funny or particularly smart. Not like Winn, not like Alex. She wears pastels and glasses and really should use more conditioner. She’s nothing much and Lena is… she’s everything. 

“Yeah, like a best friend maybe,” Kara says dejectedly. “Lena is… she’s so beautiful and why would she ever want someone like me?”

“Don’t say that,” Alex growls. “You are amazing. You are wonderful. I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t like you. And maybe she doesn’t like you like that, but you have to talk to her. She’s your best friend and whether you like it or not, neither of you will be happy without the other.” 

Kara curls up into Alex’s shoulder knowing that she’s right. She’s still scared though. Because these feelings crept up on her. She was only tangentially aware of them until tonight. Until she saw Lena in that dress, until she danced with her and realized there wasn’t anywhere else in the world she’d rather be. Until she kissed her and her world tilted on its axis. But she realizes that nothing has really changed. She’s felt like this for a while, though she can’t pinpoint exactly when it started. Somewhere along the way, Lena had lodged herself firmly into Kara’s heart and she’s not sure what she’d do without her. She doesn't know what she’d do if she actually ruined everything before it even had a chance to start. 

“Kara,” Alex says softly. “You need to go back to your dorm or you’ll miss check in. I’ll see you tomorrow though, okay?”

Kara whines a little but eventually drags herself up. Alex presses a kiss to Kara’s cheek as she gives her one last hug. As Kara makes her way to the door, she pauses and looks at Alex. 

“How was your night?' she asks. "Was Maggie good to you?”

Alex smiles that wide, dopey grin. 

“Yeah, she was amazing. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Go, before you get in trouble.”

With one last wave, Kara steps out of Alex’s room and makes her way over to her dorm. 

 

* * *

 

Kara eats breakfast with Alex and gets the run-down of Alex’s night. She knows most of the story since she was there for it. But Alex tells her about how, after the dance, Maggie had walked her out to the lower fields where there weren’t as many lights and how she’d kissed her under a canopy of stars. She tells her that Maggie had walked Alex back to her room and bid her goodnight. And she tells her that they have a date in the afternoon. 

“This afternoon?” Kara asks. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

“Just to a movie. She’s borrowing a friend’s car and we’re driving out to town.”

“That’s cute,” Kara says. “I’m really happy for you. You’ll let me know how it goes?”

“Of course, but only if you go and talk to Lena,” Alex says. 

“I will, I will,” Kara says and she will... it's just that she needs to psych herself up first. 

“Today,” Alex says sharply. 

“Sure, sure,” Kara replies, even though she’s pretty sure it won’t happen today. 

“I’m serious Kara. You’re only hurting her by avoiding her like this. And you’re hurting yourself.”

Kara sighs and drops her forehead onto the table in front of her. Alex stands and presses a kiss to the crown of Kara’s head.  

“It’ll be fine, I promise. Now, I have to go and see Maggie. But just be honest with Lena. She loves you almost as much as I do. It'll all work out.”

 

* * *

 

Lena hasn’t slept. After getting back from the dance, she paced for about an hour before dropping onto her bed in exhaustion and just staring up at the ceiling. Her mind is racing. Kara Danvers had kissed her. Kara Danvers had kissed her and Lena had frozen up like she was a robot short-circuiting. Kara Danvers had kissed her and then run away. 

There were a million possible explanations for her speedy disappearance and Lena is sure she ran through all of them last night. Maybe Kara had suddenly felt sick and needed to throw up. Maybe Kara had heard someone calling her name. Maybe Kara had hated kissing Lena so much that she never wanted to see her again. Maybe Kara had remembered she left the dorm stove on. Maybe Kara was as nervous and scared about this as Lena was. Maybe Kara was had super-hearing and had heard someone calling for her. Maybe Kara had gone temporarily insane.  

By the time, the sun rose in the morning, Lena was fifty percent sure that she’d made it all up. That it had been a dream and her sleep-deprived brain had convinced her that it had actually happened.

She’s so tired and so far into her head that she doesn’t eat or realize that she’s hungry until well in the afternoon. She thinks about texting Kara to see if she wants to grab an afternoon snack (Kara is _always_ up for food) but she doesn’t. After all, Kara had run away. Clearly she needed space or maybe she never wanted to see Lena again. It could be either, really. 

For the first time in months, Lena goes a whole day without a single text from Kara. Usually she gets _something_ even if it’s just a goodnight text or an indecipherable string of emojis. But her phone sits silent in her pocket as Lena quests for food. There’s a snack-bar on campus that serves these wonderful fried chicken wraps that Lena likes to indulge in every once in a while. 

When she gets there and is waiting in line alone, she’s struck by the fact that this is the first time she’s been out in public without Kara in a while, other than her transit between classes. Before Kara, she never used to leave the dorm except to go to the dining hall and class. She hadn’t even known this snack-bar existed. She’d been too afraid of what other students would say to her. While she was with Kara, that fear had faded back into a niggling worry and then nothing. 

But now, without Kara (maybe without Kara forever, though she tries not to think about it) the fear comes back. But she finds that she doesn’t need to worry. She gets a few side glances but no one really pays her any mind. It seems Kara’s protection continues even when they’re not together. She wonders what they would do if she and Kara ‘broke up’. She can’t imagine they’d be very nice to her after the fact. Kara has more friends than Lena could imagine and Lena is still a Luthor.

It’s not until she’s ordered and received the wrap and is sitting at one of the counters that someone walks up to her. 

“Well, well, it’s Lena Luthor, out on her own. Who would have guessed?”

Lena looks up to see Cat eyeing her lazily. The unaffected drawl she puts on as she pretends not to pry grates at Lena’s nerves. She looks up at Cat wondering what the senior could possibly want from her. 

“Where’s your faithful little puppy?” Cat asks. 

“What?” 

“Kara, your girlfriend,” Cat says impatiently. “It’s rare to see you two not completely attached at the hip.”

“I don’t know where she is right now,” Lena says. “She’s her own person.”

“Ah, so you had a fight. It’s okay. Couples fight all the time. I’m surprised it took you so long actually.”

“We aren’t a couple,” Lena grumbles. “You know that.”

Cat looks at Lena in genuine surprise. 

“Really? Are you sure about that?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lena asks, putting down her wrap and giving Cat her full attention. 

“I thought you two had gotten together forever ago. I told you, I’m very observant and I know Kara Danvers. I know that she’s never looked at someone quite the way she looks at you. I know that she’s never spent as much time with someone as she has with you. Not even that lovely sister of hers. And I know you have feelings for her. And I’d assumed that neither of you was dense enough to miss that. But clearly I overestimated both of you.”

Lena gapes at Cat, who looks disinterestedly at her phone. 

“Cat,” Lena says, as if to start a sentence. But she doesn’t know what she’s trying to say, or what she would say. 

“You know, there are many traits I admire in a person,” Cat says. “Loyalty, kindness, a desire to find the truth, a sense of justice. But do you know what I really think _makes_ a person?”

Lena shakes her head though she knows it was rhetorical question. 

“Bravery. Now, I don’t know what happened between you and Miss Danvers, though I do plan on finding out eventually. But I do know that you love her too much to let her go so easily. So how about you put on your big girl pants and see what you can do about fixing this.”

Cat doesn’t even wait for Lena to acknowledge her statement and instead turns sharply on her heels and marches off. 

Lena finishes off her wrap and then stands, determinedly. Cat is right. And honestly, Lena has nothing to lose. 

 

* * *

 

Kara paces back and forth as much as her tiny dorm room allows, trying to build up the nerve to go find Lena when there’s a knock on her door. She’s so nervous, at this point, that she trips over her own feet and nearly falls on her way to opening it. When she does, she almost slams it closed because she’s not _ready_ to see Lena yet. But there she is, looking so pretty and lovely and Kara’s mind goes blank. 

“Uh, Lena,” she stutters. “I was just going to find you.”

Lena raises her eyebrows. 

“You were?”

“Uh, yeah,” Kara says. “Um, do you maybe want to come in? You don’t have to, of course. But if you want to, I’d be-“

“Kara,” Lena says gently. “I’d love to come in." 

She steps past Kara into the room and glances over at Kara’s roommate’s bed. For once, Kara is glad that Kelly’s not around, though she could use the moral support right now. Lena is standing in front of her, not quite looking at her and twisting her hands around each other nervously. Kara feels suspiciously like she’s about to get broken up with and it makes her feel a little sick. 

“So, um, how was the rest of your night?” Kara asks awkwardly. 

It’s a dumb question. It’s a ridiculously stupid and pointless and inane question and she wants to take it back as soon as she says it. Lena finally glances at her and a wry smile twists at her lips. 

“After you left? Not so great. I didn’t sleep much.”

And shit, shit, shit. This is where it all ends. This is where Lena tells her that she never wants to see Kara again. Kara imagines that Lena must feel violated. Maybe even like she’s been used, like her trust had been abused.

“I just… why did you run?” Lena asks, her voice lilting down into a whisper towards the end. 

“Because you’re my best friend and I… I am _all_ about consent. And you don’t deserve to have someone you care about do that to you. It was wrong of me. I’m so sorry. And you’re right, I shouldn’t have left. I just panicked. I never wanted to make you feel uncomfortable.”

That’s not quite right, but Kara doesn’t know how to tell Lena that she ran because she was afraid that she’d ruined the most important thing in her world. It’s too much like a confession and she’s not sure how Lena would respond to that. 

Lena seems appropriately disappointed and unfulfilled by the answer. She frowns and takes a step closer. 

“Well then, why did you kiss me?”

Lena stumbles over the word kiss a little but her eyes are clear and sharp when she looks at Kara. She doesn’t look angry or sad or betrayed which Kara supposes is a good thing. But she isn’t jumping for joy either. Mostly, she just looks focused. She’s got the same look in her eye as when she’s working on a project with Winn and all of the pieces start to come together. 

“Because you’re pretty,” Kara says again, and she starts to wonder if her brain is broken because that is _not_ what she meant to say. “I mean, because… I…”

The words won’t come though they’re on the tip of her tongue. She knows that once she says them, things will never be the same. She will either lose Lena forever or maybe something wonderful will happen. But Kara’s too afraid to take that next step. She doesn’t like change, and this change might be too much for her to handle. 

Lena takes charge instead. She steps closer until she can reach out and gently grab Kara’s hand. Kara finds that staring at their intertwined fingers is easier than looking into Lena’s eyes.

“You shouldn’t have run,” she says. “You don’t need to ask for my consent to kiss me. You have it. Always.”

It takes Kara a second to process the words and when she does, she looks up at Lena with awe written plainly across her face. 

“What?” she breathes out, because she’s still got this lingering fear that she misunderstood. 

“You can kiss me whenever you want. I… God, Kara I’ve been wanting you to kiss me for months. And, well, I had gotten used to the idea that you probably wouldn’t, because I thought you were straight and I thought I was just your friend and I didn’t think you would ever like me like that. So I didn’t say anything. But let me say it now. I like you, Kara Danvers, more than I’ve ever liked anyone before.” 

Kara barely waits for Lena to finish the sentence before pulling her into a kiss. This time, she doesn’t pull away. This time she doesn’t run. This time, she lets Lena kiss her back and it’s perfect. It’s sweet and soft and Lena is _kissing her back_ which is incredible as far as Kara’s concerned and way more than she ever let herself dream possible. 

She pulls away after a few seconds but only just enough so that their foreheads still touch and she can still feel Lena’s breath on her cheeks.

“I like you too, by the way,” Kara says. “If you hadn’t figured it out yet. I like you a lot.” She feels more than she sees Lena smile. “And I’m sorry for running. I was just scared. I didn’t think that you would actually like me. I thought this was all just you helping me.”

“I wouldn’t have done that for just anyone,” Lena says softly. “I was drawn to you from the moment I met you.”

Kara lets out a disbelieving laugh. And then, as an experiment, to check to see if she really can, she kisses Lena. It’s just a peck, at first, but when she tries to pull away Lena chases and the next thing Kara knows, she’s being pushed up against her dresser. Lena’s hands go to her waist and they pull her close even as Lena uses her body to push Kara back. Kara’s hands settle on Lena’s shoulders, and her fingers curl into the fabric of her shirt.  

Kara’s entire body feels like it’s heating up. Her face is warm as blood rushes into her cheeks and the skin under her t-shirt where Lena’s hands feels like it’s burning. She feels like she’s being bathed in sunlight and Kara’s always loved the sun. She kisses Lena until breathing gets hard and the edge of her dresser pushing into her back starts to get painful. This time when they pull apart, Lena actually takes a step back, curling her hands into herself. Kara understands the feeling.  All of her dreams are coming true and she just wants to touch and touch and touch. But there will be time for that and things right now, need to slow down a little.

“Lena,” Kara says as she tries to bring her heart rate back to normal. “Would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?”

Lena chuckles. 

“Honestly, we’ve been dating for months now. Don’t you think that’s long overdue?”

Kara grins.

“Is that a yes?”

Lena smiles up at her softly. 

“It’s a yes, Kara. For you, it always will be.”

 


End file.
